Middle Aged Thoughts from Scotland

Park Scene

The screen seems a little dim to me. There is a whitish poodle at my feet wagging his tail and looking into the distance, but now he has moved and is looking at me. I am sitting on a bench in our local park. I am facing eastwards, my back towards the prevailing wind, and what sun there is will heat up my right shoulder. In front of me the path curves to the right then splits. The left hand fork goes round the edge of a children’s play area, whilst the right fork heads off to the perimeter road.

Families are at play. A grandfather is helping his son, push two young toddlers on the bucket swings. From the colour of their clothes the kids are girls. Whilst they swing, the legs shift a little but mostly they just seem to sit there passively. One girl asks to get out by extending her arms, she is lifted up and placed on the ground near an orange football. The grandfather walks with her across to the football pitch. She seems more intend on holding the ball but the man encourages her to put it down and try kicking it. They wander aimlessly over the pitch, random kicks using either leg. Thirty seconds letter the wee girl is off, running back to the play park, climbing on the springy dog and balance wall. The grandfather is left to kick the ball back to the swings.

More families arrive, but it is mostly men here with the kids. It’s Saturday so most weekday workers will be free, or is this the mother’s way of getting the dad to spend some time with his kids. I can see nine kids, five men and one woman. All but one of the kids are under five I would say, and gender lines don’t seem to be formed yet. Boys and girls are on the roundabout, going down the shute, swinging on the swings. Look closely though and things had changed. The only kids trying to tackle the climbing frame are two boys supported by their Dads, there are three boys zooming in circles on the roundabout. The opportunities are there for both boys and girls, but I wonder who is leading these activities, the parents or the children? Since I am able to see the gender of these kids from fifty metres away (from haircut, clothes, and colours), I am guessing at least some of the leading is done by parents. I wonder if any of these kids are intersex?

The scene changes again. Once again, the girls are mixing, climbing and getting dizzy. Am I looking for issues when there are none?

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2 thoughts on “Park Scene”

Nicely written. It’s amazing how a story can come by sitting or standing quietly and watching what’s going on around you.
We don’t do enough of it.
It’s nice if fathers do spend more time getting to know their children, especially if it giving time out for mums, I hope it’s not because of broken homes and it’s dad’s weekend with them.
See my thoughts are running away with me now.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Have a nice week